Folding stairway



Feb. 7, 1950 B. D. BROWN 2,496,773

FOLDING STAIRWAY Filed NOV. 13, 194'! 65 /0 B yro n D. B ro wn INVEN TOR.

A T TORNEY Patented Feb. 7, 1950 FQIJDINGTZ STAIBWAX Byronel)? Brown; Iiallasa'lexa Application-Novemlien13; ISAZZSefiaITNh; 78525375 (Cl. 2Z8 --50?f= Thisiinvention. relates .to folding Stairways and" it'hasparticular.reference tfoa new and improved mountingj. for iolding or disappearing stairs:

The principal ohjectioi the invention is to provide. a. mounting. and' counterbalance; for stairs" of, the type usually. employed to. gain access to. the atticof'a building or more, especially used in connection with.v attic ventilation and wherein a hingedlsectibnr of; the. attic ran intake housing" constitutes the. count'enbalance 'for the sectional" stairway,.the-latterfloeing connected. to the counterbalance through the. medium.- of, a pair of arm: assemblies afiorldinga compound leverage effece tivetoassumethe weightofithe stairway, enabling, it; toih'e. raisedland.lowered'with. little efiort.

Another. object of the inventionis to provide a [disappearing stairway in io'ldablesections; the: major.sectionrconstituting a" closure. forthe attic openingihut' whichiislatticed or lowered to per-- mite passage of influencedl upwardly. by the; action of'theattic fan. Moreover, theli'an houseing, being located; adjacent to the. attioopening,v aninclinedandhinged section thereof constrains v the air to pass. only, through the llouveredsection on the stairway, when-the latter: is -.inlraisedi posie tionihutnwhenrthe, stairway is lowered, the. hinged; housing section is raised, therebyzallowinghead;-- room-ior. one: entering: the attic by way of the stairs.

With the foregoingobjectswin view, the invention has further reference to certain features of accomplishment which will become apparent as the description proceeds, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view partly in section showing an attic fan, housing and a disappearing stairway constructed according to the invention as well as the arm assembly connecting the stairway to a hinged section of the fan housing.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the stairway in raised position, and

Figure 3 is a combined view showing the comlp'lementary parts of the stairway suspension arm fulcrum in perspective.

Continuing with a more detailed description of the drawing, reference numeral l denotes the upper or major section of a sectional stairway and which is hinged at H to one end of an opening l2 in the ceiling 13 which separates the attic from the lower part r f a building. To the lower end of the section is hinged at [4 an intermediate section l5 and to the latter, in turn, is hinged at IS a lower section l1. When the sections l0, l5 and I1 are extended to form a stairway, they appear as shown in Figure 1 shut in and a-t it's mid'section orvertex of theangle, the" 2 2 folded. position; the:- relationship" of the sections is as showminliig'urei-zl 'e maiorstair'sectiom lo i'sof' a length andi width suitable to cover. the ceiling opening I2 which? also serves? to adrlnit air to the attic" and topermit'suclr passage of" air, slats 'orlouvers- It areaifixe'dtome-stiles the major section It Suitably mounted at one end" of the opening" P2 is a conventional ventilating ran" H! of any desirable construction, underwhoseinfluence: aii

is constrained to pass from rooms-'b'elow'into the attic through the; opening- If: However, such movement of air is' not entirely confined to the opening-l2 while the stairway is lowered due to th'ezfact that asecti'on- 0: the housing ll of"- the" ram 19* serves as a counterhalan'ce [for the": stairway" andv when tliedatter is in operative P tiom. the section 20 is inoperative-position to direct" air into-the housing! 2 I instead, it

elevated} as-shown'inFigureh re connect the liousing section' 2 0 to th'e stair-- way; a pair of-relatively pivoted armsis provided; each: c'orrsisti-ngmf a straiglit lower" arm 22 whose lower endfis pivoted' hetween the earsof' a plate 2'3;

the lattenheihgaffi'xed to one side of themajor" stair section HP opposite an identical companion platethereonz Tot-the upper end or the-arm 22 is; pivoted at Hitheriawer end ofan' arm 2F; bent" at -its:approx iinatemidseotion at-an2 obtuse angle arm 25 is oscillatable on a iulicrum consisting of a pin 26, anchored in a strap metal mounting 21, as shown in Figure 3. Obviously, this mounting may be substituted by any other suitable device but as such, the mounting is aflixed to the sides of the opening I2 in the manner shown, to rockably support the arm 25.

To the opposite end of the arm 25 is pivoted at 28 a straight arm '29 whose upper end is pivoted between the ears of a plate 30, not unlike the plate 23 to which the lowermost arms 22 are joined. The plates 30 are afiixed to the underside 0f the -fan housing section 20 which latter is hinged at 3| to the top edge of the fan housing 2| nearest the opening l2.

It is apparent zfrom the foregoing and from the drawing that when the stairway is (folded into the attic opening I2, a .pull upon the end of the major section In opposite the hinge II will exert a pull upon the end of the Hoent arm 25 at its rpivotal point 24, which will place the arm 29, under compression and will thereby exert an upward thrust on the housing section or counterbalance 20. Obviously, the leverage imposed through the articulated arm assem bly because of the peculiar pivotal relationship of the arms and their positions with respect to the stairway and counterbalance 20, will reduce to practically nil the efiort which would otherwise be required to manipulate the stairway. A great deal depends however on the particular location of the connections between the arms and the stairway section In and the countenbalance 20, it being,

pointed out that in the latter case the connection is positioned to dispose the greatenpart'foithe; weight of the counterbalance at the free end of the latter. While not shown, the connections 30 may be made adjustable longitudinally on the counterbalance 20 for obvious reasons.

When the stairway is lowered, the countertion in closed position thereof.

balance is raised so that one ascending the w stairway will have head room upon entering the I attic. On the other hand, when thesta irway is folded into the opening i2, the counterbalance 7-.

20 becomes a part of the fan housing to close all openings except the opening l2, thus constraining air influenced by the fan l9 to enter the opening between the slats (8. of the major stair section l0.

- Manifestly, the construction as shown and described is capable ocE some modification and such modification as may be construed to fall within the scope and meaning of the appended claims is also considered to be within the spirit and intent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a folding stairway, a series of step supporting sections hinged in end to end relationship, the upper of said sections being louvered and hinged in a ceiling opening, a ventilating fan and housing above the ceiling, a hinged section on said housing, a pair of articulated arm assemblies, each consisting of a lower armpivotally connected to the upper stairway section, an upper arm pivotally connected to said housing section, an intermediate bent armpivotally connected at its ends to the ends of said upper and lower arms and pivoted at its midsection to the sides of said ceiling opening whereby said housing section will counterbalance said stairway and will constrain air influenced by said fan to pass upwardly through said ceiling opening when said stairway is folded therein.

2. A folding stairway including step supporting sections hinged in end to end relationship, the

v 3. A folding stairway including a plurality of step supporting sections the upper of which is reticulated and hinged in a ceiling opening, a

1 fan housing above and adjacent to said opening, a fan in said housing, a housing section hinged to said housing, articulated and relatively pivoted means for pivotally connecting the upper stairway section and said housing section whereby the latter will counterbalance the raising and lowering movements of said stairway and will, in closed position of the latter, constrain air infiuenced upwardly by said fan to enter solely through said ceiling opening.

fl. A folding stairway including sections hinged in end to end relationship, the upper of said sections having louvers on one side and hinged at one end to a ceiling opening, a fan housing adjacent said opening, a member constituting a part of and hinged to said fan housing adapted to overlie said opening and means efiecting articulated connection between the upper section of said stairway and said hinged member Whereby the latter will counterbalance said stairway and confine the intake of air influenced by said fan to said ceiling opening when said stairway is in folded position.

5. A stairway as set forth in claim 4, further defined in that the articulated means consists of two sets of arms each comprising three arms, the upper and lower arms being pivoted at their upper and lower ends to the counterbalance and stairway respectively and an intermediate arm pivoted at its ends to the ends of said upper and lower arms and bent to define an obtuse angle, said intermediate arm being pivoted at its vertex to a side of the ceiling opening.

BYRON D. BROWN.

No references cited. 

